9 Reasons to Share Your Room
by SociallyInept
Summary: Rogue can think of 9 good reasons to share her bedroom with Kitty. No more, no less. Cameos by most mansion residents. The title changed because, honestly, I'm never going to get around to finishing this.
1. Security against crazy insomniac cajuns

Title: 10 Reasons to Share Your Room with Your Best Friend

Characters: Kitty, Rogue, assorted others from the series

Summary: Rogue can think of 10 good reasons to share her bedroom. No more, no less.

Reason 1: Security against crazy insomniac Cajuns

"Good evening, Chere," a suave masculine voice whispered somewhere near Rogue's ear. She screamed and woke up, unintentionally headbutting Remy LeBeau in the face. He stumbled backwards and tripped over a bra lying on the ground, landing against Kitty's desk in a confused heap.

"Oh, it's you. I'm not sorry then," Rogue said, ignoring the Cajun's frantic 'quiet-down' gestures. On the other side of the room Kitty stirred and sat up sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Who yelled?" she yawned, blinking rapidly to clear the sleep away while she scanned the room.

Rogue sighed with irritation. "I did. Swamp Rat whispered in my ear."

"Oh, that's…creepy," Kitty said, finding Remy slowly getting up from the floor. "Why would you do that? It's like, two in the morning."

"Yeah, go to bed," Rogue agreed crossly, glaring at her southern suitor. Remy snarled a little at himself, and then cleared his expression of anything negative. He calmly smoothed his pajamas even though they didn't need it and tried to regain the rest of his composure.

He glanced back and forth between Rogue and Kitty, realizing that in his plans to win the frozen, angry heart of Rogue he had neglected to check first to see if she had a roommate. Turns out she did. Said roommate was looking at him as though he were some kind of crazy burglar. He found this incredibly unjustified because for once, he wasn't. Which is probably why he got caught, actually, because if he had been acting as a thief he wouldn't have opened his stupid mouth and woken everyone up.

"Seriously, git," Rogue said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at him. Kitty crawled to the foot of her bed and opened the door to the hall, silently suggesting that that was where he really would rather be. Remy glanced back as if suggesting that she use that door so that he could be alone with Rogue. Kitty wordlessly suggested back with a scoff that there was no way that was going to happen, it was her bedroom and roommate, thank you, and men weren't allowed. Especially at night. Especially when they were acting creepy and whispering things in people's ears.

Rogue finally suggested something verbally. "Why are you still here? Your room's down the hall."

"I ain't lost," Remy said, annoyed with how badly his plan had backfired. "And I ain't going yet. We need to talk."

Rogue smirked a little and glanced at Kitty. "No, we really don't."

"I'm sure we do," Remy insisted.

"I'm even more sure we don't. There's really nothing to talk about."

Kitty frowned from the foot of her bed. "Hey, will one of you close the window? It's raining. It doesn't need to be awkward and wet at the same time."

"There are plenty of things to talk about," Remy said confidently.

"There's plenty I'd be willing to talk about during the day, when we're both wearing real clothes and not trying to sleep," Rogue said with the same levels of confidence.

Kitty got up and shut the window herself, since Rogue and Remy were busy flirting with each other. She checked the clock on her nightstand and sighed, sitting back down on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands to watch the exchange disinterestedly.

"What if there's something to talk about in the middle of the night, that talking about during the day wouldn't be quite right for?" Remy said.

"I'll take the risk of hearing it during daylight hours," Rogue decided. "Please get out of my room- our room- now."

"I think you want to hear what I want to say," Remy said flirtatiously, pulling out Kitty's desk chair and sitting on it casually. Kitty groaned and rolled her eyes slowly, then stood up.

"I'm going to go get Mr. Logan," she warned Remy. Neither he nor Rogue paid her any attention.

"I don't think I want to hear it," Rogue said, shaking her head slightly, trying to suppress a small smile. "Probably not worth my time."

Remy leaned back, pretending to be wounded. "Not worth your time? Chere, Remy'll make worth your time. To hear."

Rogue laughed at him. "Yeah, how so? If it's not funny or good to know I'm gonna have to kick your butt for waking me up so weirdly."

Kitty reached under her bed for her house slippers. "I'm getting Mr. Logan. It's the middle of the night."

"Weirdly? Remy was trying to flirt!" He held a hand over his heart to stop the fake wound from her words, grinning the whole time. Rogue crawled to the end of her bed, nearer to the desk Remy was sitting at, in order to better contradict everything he said. Neither of them noticed Kitty leaving, stomping down the hall towards the staircase grumbling about Creole invasions in the middle of the night.

"That was weird. Hovering over women and whispering in their ear while they sleep is weird. You deserved to have your nose smashed in by my skull." She said, nodding righteously to herself.

"The punishment don't really fit the crime there, chere. Just screaming or just headbutting me would have fine, but not both."

Kitty reappeared in the doorway with Logan, who looked less than thrilled at seeing an adult male in the girls' hall. "See? He won't leave." She complained. "I'm trying to sleep."

Remy glanced casually over at them, then back at Rogue, then did a double-take once his brain registered Logan was there scowling angrily at him.

"It's about time, Kitty," Rogue complained, relaxing her posture and sliding back to her pillow. "Numbskull won't leave us alone."

"Hey, that's unfair-." Remy said, then calmly stood up and pushed Kitty's desk chair back in. "But we're just going to have to finish this later. I can see you lovely ladies would like to rest, and it is very late. So I'm going to head out now. Sleep well."

Rogue lay down on her pillow and covered herself up. "Don't let Logan hit you on the way out." She turned to face the wall. Kitty curled back up on her own bed, chuckling to herself. Remy didn't let Logan hit him on the way out, but got a good solid kick once in the hall after the girls' door was closed.

"Hey, Kitty?" Rogue murmured after awhile. There was silence for a moment, and then Kitty stirred.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." Even though nobody could see it- especially not Kitty- Rogue smiled. Sometimes a roommate came in handy to use as security against crazy insomniac Cajuns.


	2. Elaborate Midnight Revenge Plans

First, I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews, I never used to get this kind of response to my writing before my long fan fiction hiatus. According to my stats this means my writing's improved. I suppose the fact that I'm not as young as I was when I started writing fan fiction helps too (glad that's over). So again, thank you for the positive comments.

* * *

Reason #2- Elaborate Midnight Revenge Plans

The scream of rage could be heard throughout the mansion, which although not an unusual occurrence, stood out due to the fact that it came from someone female. Normally, they came from Logan, however he was out working on his bike and didn't feel like screaming today. Not long afterwards, Tabby wandered casually into the den and plopped down in front of the television.

There were several thumps from the direction the scream had come from, and then Rogue stomped angrily down the stairs in an old, mismatched pajama suit that she usually only wore on laundry day. She blocked Tabby's view of the television and silently held up a tattered, abused cloth-like thing, staring the blonde in the eyes accusingly. Rogues cheeks flushed with anger, but she did not- could not- speak.

Hank McCoy, who was sitting nearby reading a very thick book, looked back and forth between the girls. Tabby slouched casually, one leg over the arm rest of the couch, chewing some gum with a little too much self-satisfaction to mean she wasn't directly responsible for whatever had happened. Rogue was rapidly turning into a volcano on the verge of explosion, silently waving the destroyed fabric in Tabby's vision whenever she looked in a different direction. He thought deeply to himself about personal codes of ethics and the importance of helping create a peaceful community inside the mansion, took a second evaluation of the one-way stare down, and then went back to his book, shifting uncomfortably in the armchair.

"What's that?" Tabby finally asked. Rogue made a small strangled sound and waved the fabric again, but said nothing else. Tabby reached up and took the cloth from Rogue's hand and stretched it out until it resembled a highly ruined black shirt. She blew a bubble while she studied it. "Did the laundry eat your clothes?"

"No, the laundry machines are innocent," Rogue finally said, calmly. "This…atrocity…is completely and totally YOUR FAULT!" She shook a fist in Tabby's face because murder would have been frowned upon. The couch was leather, so the blood would have ruined it.

"How so?" Tabby asked.

"Did you or did you not put a pair of scissors in the dryer after I left?" Rogue said.

"Oh, was that where those went? I wasn't paying attention. I meant to put them in that cabinet next to the dryer. I guess I missed. Darn." Tabby stuck her gum under the coffee table and got up. "It was an ugly shirt anyway. I did you a favor."

Rogue stared speechlessly as she left the room. "It was my favorite shirt, you demon spawn!"

Upstairs and twenty minutes later, Kitty was laying out new combinations of her clothes to wear that week at school. She glanced at the pile of clean laundry in the hamper on Rogue's bed, wondering if the reason her roommate had stormed out was to hunt her down for throwing some of her own laundry in the load. She tried to peek without upsetting any of Rogue's stuff, but dove back over to her side of the room when Rogue came storming in.

Kitty tried to start a conversation. "Hey, you look really upset. What happened?"

Rogue held up the decimated shirt, stretching it out so all the missing pieces in it could be noticed. "Tabby put scissors in my load of laundry while it was in the dryer, all this-," She pointed at the hamper, "-is ruined. A whole basket of clothes."

"What?" Kitty cried out, running back over and digging in the hamper. Rogue, taken aback, watched while Kitty pulled out a few of her own items of clothing in a growing panic. She smirked angrily as Kitty surveyed the damage to her own clothing in growing anger.

"Ha, you too!" Rogue said triumphantly as Kitty mouthed angry things (she was too nice to say them out loud).

"This is totally ruined!" Kitty finally managed. "I got caught in the crossfire of Tabby's hit on you! This is so not cool!"

Rogue nodded, then glanced toward the door and leaned forward. "Revenge strike?" she said quietly. Kitty pursed her lips.

"Revenge strike," she agreed. As the evening turned into night, they plotted. Due to circumstances and the fact that since Tabby hadn't even tried to keep her evil a secret to any of the mansion's residents, it would be incredibly difficult to determine who would be to blame for any retaliation strikes if they were to occur. It wasn't a secret that sometimes the adults wanted to do something to bring Tabby down as well, so Rogue and Kitty kept it relatively diabolical but simple to enact.

Late that night, Kitty knocked loudly on the door to Tabby and Amara's room, yelling whatever she could think of about the unforgivable sins of laundry destruction and respecting others' personal belongings. Tabby immediately began arguing back as soon as the door was open, and the noise level quickly drew the residents of the nearby rooms out into the hall to try to shut everyone up so they could go back to sleep.

When the noise and crowd were of a suitable size, Rogue, in disguise in one of Kitty's brightly colored oversized nightgowns (on the grounds that people associated her with black clothing and would immediately spot her, whereas if she dressed the opposite no one would know what to look for and she'd go unnoticed), snuck into Tabby's room right after Amara, frustrated with the volumes of sound and people right outside her door, went out to add to the noise. Rogue silently stepped over to the bed Tabby had claimed and emptied several ink cartons into the bed, beneath the sheets, as quickly and quietly as she could. Once done, she put them in the small trashcan by the desk and covered the evidence with part of someone's homework and pulled out the same pair of scissors that had destroyed her own clothing, and went to stand incriminatingly by the closet.

By this point the noise in the hall had started to diminish due to the presences of Scott and Jean, who were grumpily shoving everyone back into their own rooms, and Tabby had turned around to go back to bed in time to see Rogue about to slice things up blindly.

"What are you doing? Get away from there!" she yelled, bolting towards Rogue to protect her own clothing. Rogue was rapidly pushed out of the room, and the door slammed in her face. Jean looked at her oddly, and Rogue tried to look casually grumpy.

"She keeps hogging the scissors," Rogue complained, then went back to her own room where Kitty was standing, vibrating in place.

"Did you finish?" she whispered as soon as their door was shut. Rogue nodded and tossed the scissors back into the laundry basket.

"She caught me about to slice up her wardrobe, I got the ink in the bed without a problem," she informed Kitty, changing out of the nasty yellow nightgown into one of her own dark pajama suits. "Tomorrow we'll see if it worked. Time for bed."

The next morning, they found out if it worked when Tabby stumbled into the kitchen, half-asleep, covered in ink stains from head to toe. Although many of the mansion residents saw her and had to deal with her complaints for the next several days as the ink slowly faded off her skin and hair, the issue of who had done it was dropped when the ink cartons were found in her own trashcan.

There had been a speech about inter-residential peace and respecting each other and each others' belongings (with very pointed looks at Rogue and Tabby), but ultimately no one got in trouble for either destroying Rogue and Kitty's laundry or for inking Tabby's bed, figuring that although it wouldn't be that difficult to find the truth of the matter, Tabby had had it coming long enough that solving the mystery would make her feel justified for causing the problem. Nobody wanted to give her the satisfaction.

Later that week, as they decided that as long as they never told anyone that it was them who had dyed Tabby they would get away with it, the roommates shared a small toast with diet sodas.

"To roommates," they toasted, "who help with elaborate midnight revenge plans."


	3. Strange Diverting Conversations

Again, thanks for the reviews and multitude of favorites. I appreciate that. Keep them coming, please!

Also, I believe it's about time to include the disclaimer, since posting on a FANFICTION site might not be enough of a hint: I do not own X-Men: Evolution or any of the characters within. Nor do I own the concept of dialogue. Or screwball comedy. I own my laptop, but since it's slowly dying of old age it's debatable how much longer that will be true. And thus is the state of things.

And the two or so weeks between chapter updates was due to a vacation. Totally legit reason.

Reason #3- Diverting, strange conversations

* * *

Jamie knocked on the slightly opened door to Kitty and Rogue's room, feeling slightly anxious. Rogue answered, pushing the door further open with her hip and leaning on the door frame.

"What do you want?" she asked, slightly confused to see the mansion's youngest resident at her door. It was commonly assumed that Jamie had a fear of Rogue, one he had never bothered to correct. The actual reason was much less interesting: they had nothing in common. At least Rogue and Kitty had their gender in common, and that was an important enough similarity that their friendship was strong.

Another thing Jamie felt they would have in common would be their reaction when he told them that his tarantula had escaped, and he had just seen it crawl in their room through the partially opened door. In this he was correct.

"Why was your spider out anyway?" Rogue yelled from a chair, where she had jumped by instinct (however if asked her excuse was that she wanted a better vantage point to search).

Kitty sat on the edge of her desk with her feet pulled as far from the floor as possible. "Why do you even have a spider?" she scolded.

Jamie stood just inside the room looking around anxiously. "He's a tarantula, not just a stupid regular old spider. Can you help me find him? If Scott finds out him got out he'll make me get rid of him." He knelt down and glanced under Kitty's bed. "The poor thing's probably scared to death."

The girls cautiously lowered themselves off their furniture and began looking around the room, wounded pride at jumping aside, mentioning places to each other and to Jamie to check.

"Kitty, did you look in the pineapple?" Rogue's voice came out muffled from where she'd stuffed herself under her bed with a flashlight to search.

Jamie leaned out of the gap where the desk had been pushed out from the wall for the hunt. "What?" he asked, baffled.

"The one with candy in it?" Kitty muttered absently, carefully picking up her clothes off the floor and shaking them out. "Yeah. It's clear. Did you look under the round chair with the mutilated butterfly on it?"

"You keep mutilated butterflies?" Jamie asked with an eyebrow raised, looking towards Rogue, who was comically scooting backwards out from under her bed.

Rogue looked at him oddly. "No, are you crazy?"

Kitty picked her footing slowly across the room to a corner where a pile of pillows and clothing stood on what seemed to be a pair of metal legs. She timidly dug through the small plush mountain. "No spider here. How about the blue change bucket?"

Jamie sighed a little in relief. A change bucket, something that made sense at last. His relief returned to vague bewilderment when Rogue balanced carefully on a chair and rummaged through the scarves and long gloves hanging over the top edge of her dresser mirror. "Nope. Maybe the-AAAARGH!"

She jerked back quickly from her dresser as what was clearly a very large, very hairy spider emerged from the crack between the furniture and the wall. Kitty grimaced a little but stood her ground, safely on the other side of the room, as Jamie lurched forward and delicately scooped up his pet tarantula.

"There is something wrong with you," he said to Rogue and Kitty as he backed toward the door, spider safely in hand. "No wonder you room together."

Kitty and Rogue frowned at each other. "What a strange child," Kitty commented.

Rogue shrugged and shook her head a little, going to her desk as Kitty laid down on her bed to study some more. Rogue reached into a drawer, pulling out a plastic bag.

"Want an octopus?" she asked casually.

Kitty looked at the wall thoughtfully for a few moments. "Yeah, all right."

They sucked on sour octopus-shaped candy for awhile. Kitty balanced her pencil on a finger. "Did any of that seem strange to you? It seemed perfectly sensible to me."

Rogue leaned back in her chair, drumming on her desk with a pen as she pursed her lips in thought. "It made sense to me too. I think Jamie's just kind of an odd kid. Probably all that time he spends alone with that spider."

The room became quiet as each roommate did her own thing, aware that they were not alone in the room but comfortable in the knowledge that if they did need to speak, the other would understand. Rooming with your best friend does tend to lead to strange, diverting conversations.


	4. Good Target Practice

Hi there. How have you been? I'm doing good- "10 Reasons to Room With Your Best Friend" has set a few new personal records for me, among those the most story/author alerts record, reviews for a story, and closing in on most favorited.

I'm changing it up on you slightly- since the first several chapters were very dialogue heavy, I'm trying to ease back on that for a few. And the reason for the delay between chapters is due to severe computer problems, which get resolved tomorrow when I go get my new computer (hopefully), and painful carpal tunnel issues (which I have). But here's a chapter despite that.

Reason #4- Good Target Practice

* * *

It was late Sunday evening, and late on Sunday evenings most of the students of the Xavier Institute settle down to do their homework before the school week began. The more studious of the residents had preferred locations for hiding in, ranging from the conveniently provided tables in the library to a slightly muddy corner of the shrubbery along the west side of the mansion that was completely concealed from view.

Kitty's favorite study spot was at her desk, surrounded by her photos of friends and family, with a small healthy snack and some music playing softly in the background for ambience. Rogue's favorite study spot was on the windowsill, with the window wide open, a box of cookies, and her headphones blasting. For the most part this arrangement worked quite well, however sometimes there were problems. Kitty's music filtered into Rogue's hearing despite the headphones, or the wind blew Kitty's homework off her desk. These issues were usually very quickly resolved.

However sometimes, they weren't. This Sunday evening was a perfect example of when it all goes wrong in the bedroom of Kitty and Rogue.

It had begun when Rogue, once settled down on the window sill seat and covered in piles of textbooks and papers, noticed that her cookies were on Kitty's desk. She asked Kitty to toss them to her and she did, accidentally hitting Rogue in the thigh with a corner of the box. Rogue winced and rubbed the spot, expecting a bruise to show up later that evening. She shrugged it off for the time being.

Not long later, the candy-sweet sounds of Kitty's preferred study music filtered into Rogue's hearing despite the volume of her own music, and it was so disconcertingly cheerful that Rogue found it impossible to ignore. She took one of the cookies out of her stash and threw it at Kitty, hitting her in the ear. Kitty jumped out of her seat, completely surprised, and glared at Rogue, who was focusing on her homework much harder than normal.

She studied Rogue for a moment, then sat back down at her desk slowly and returned to her textbook. Unfortunately, the volume on her radio was still up slightly too high, so after a few minutes another cookie was thrown, this time getting in Kitty's hair.

"What is your problem?" she yelled at Rogue, who didn't notice because of her headphones and pretending to casually look out the window at the trees. Kitty got Rogue's attention by flinging a pen at her that left a purple ink mark on Rogue's sleeve, however it did get her attention as well.

"You just stained my shirt!" Rogue exclaimed, slamming her textbook shut and wadding up a few sheets of paper into a ball, which she launched at her roommate. Kitty phased herself so the ball passed harmlessly through her, and grabbed some Post-It notes off of her desk. Rogue ducked just in time for the Post-Its to go sailing out the window, and picked up one of her house slippers.

"Turn your music down," she said after quickly trying to remember what started the fight, lowering the shoe. Kitty put down the stapler she had picked up as well.

"Oh, ok. I didn't realize the volume was up." She turned the knob so the music was less audible, and sat back down at her desk (leaving her stapler within arm's reach). Rogue picked her textbook up and opened it to the chapter she had been trying to read, and for several minutes good studying was accomplished.

As soon as the sun was down, Kitty began to notice how chilly the night air coming in through the window was, and glanced over at Rogue. Rogue had put a jacket on but had made no move to close the window, and the house slippers she had so recently been prepared to use as projectiles were now on her feet. Kitty slipped her bathrobe on over her clothes, but several minutes later was still acutely aware of the chill in the air. She glanced back over at Rogue, who still hadn't noticed anything amiss.

"Rogue?" Kitty asked, trying to get her attention in a peaceful manner. Rogue didn't hear. Kitty sighed and picked up the paper ball that had been thrown at her, and tossed it at Rogue. It hit her in the shoulder and startled her enough that she almost fell out the window.

"What was that about?" she said angrily, throwing her highlighter at Kitty. Kitty caught it and tossed it back.

"It's getting chilly in here, can you shut the window?" Kitty asked. Rogue paused and noticed the room was indeed cold, and moved her studying to her own desk so that the window could be shut. They returned to their homework until Rogue's pen ran out of ink, and she discovered she didn't have another. A short throwing match ensued, and then the issue was resolved. This happened three more times before homework was finished and the girls went to bed, irritated and slightly bruised.

The next day in the Danger Room session for the older X-Men, Kitty was able to hit every target with the balls she'd been given to use as ammo. Rogue threw a javelin that knocked a metal Frisbee out of the air. Several times throughout the session both girls' uncanny accuracy was proven. At the end of the session, Scott came up to them.

"When did you guys get so good at projectiles?" he asked, baffled. They didn't practice throwing things in the Danger Room often enough to warrant accuracy like theirs.

Rogue and Kitty glanced at each other. "Oh, roommates are good target practice."


	5. Automatic Friendmaking

I'm going to be busy for the next few days buying a new laptop and getting it up to speed, so here's the next chapter in advance. However feel free to comment on both of today's uploaded chapters individually if you like them. I'm open to suggestions for other uses roommates are good for, since I actually have only planned eight reasons, and there needs to be ten. If you have an interesting reason and it ties in to a funny personal backstory, that's even better. Credit will be given if I use part of an idea.

Reason #5- Automatic Friendmaking

* * *

It had been a long day fighting evil, and Rogue desperately wanted some privacy to take her mind off things. Perhaps she'd put some of her angsty dark music on to remind her that singers have issues too. Yes, a nice long hot shower and a horror novel would amend for the day's events quite well.

However when she opened the door to the bedroom she shared with Kitty Pryde, she was surprised to find others there already. Some kind of youth group of mansion residents had moved into the room and in the middle of the circle they were seated in was a board game. Rogue sighed. This would not help her.

"Oh, hey, Rogue! We're playing Scrabble. Want to join?" Kitty said cheerfully. Only Bobby looked interested at the prospect of another player. Jubilee, Jamie, and Roberto looked as though they were readying themselves for a battle. Rogue was not a mansion favorite.

"We're already in the middle of this game, she can't join us now," Jubilee complained, hunched over her wooden letters like a vulture. Roberto nodded in agreement.

Bobby disagreed, "No way- I'm losing real badly already, she can tag with me."

Kitty paused and glanced around the circle of players. "How badly are you losing?"

Roberto checked the scorecard for Kitty. "Jubes, you, and me are all over 100 points. Jamie's winning with 258 points-."

"Because he's cheating," Jubilee muttered to herself, slouching.

"I'm just smarter than you," Jamie protested, shrugging in a helpless way.

"- And Bobby is losing with a total of 42 points." Roberto finished. Rogue scoffed. Bobby silently pleaded with her, trying to look as innocent and hopeless as possible.

"Fine, whatever," Rogue reluctantly agreed, "I'll tag team with Bobby since he's so bad at Scrabble."

"Yes!" Bobby said, scooting over so Rogue could squeeze in next to him. She tossed her uniform on her bed and sat down, careful to keep her uncovered hands and feet to herself so nobody would get touched. They'd probably accuse her of cheating and kick her out of her own room if that happened.

The game continued, Jamie's huge lead making trying to win pointless. The other players kept it interesting by trying to think of the weirdest words they could, or bending the rules to allow certain moves to be made that would not be allowed according to the game rulebook.

It got to the point that Rogue pulled out her dictionary so that she and Bobby could look up words, citing their continual losing streak as reason for help. Eventually the game was over, and after a quick consultation of schedules for the next day Jubilee, Bobby, and Roberto left, to be replaced just as quickly by Kurt, Scott, and Jean. This game went slightly better since it turned into a word duel between Jean and Jamie, with the rest of the players making things difficult by trying to fill in the good spots with stupid small words. Kurt kept putting German words on the board when everyone was arguing about whether a word was real or not. Rogue didn't lose this time, but due to continually arguing with Jamie about whether or not two letter words no one had ever heard of should be allowed she didn't win either.

Finally it was late enough that everybody left to go to bed, leaving Kitty and Rogue facing each other from opposite sides of the board.

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you that so many people would be in and out, but if I had you wouldn't have come," Kitty said, laying out a word to start a final game. Rogue shrugged.

"It wasn't so bad after awhile. It took my mind off things," Rogue admitted, countering Kitty's word for two more points.

"I know you're not that fond of the newer kids, but you never really give then any chances and this seemed like a good way to do that. You and Bobby suck as a team," Kitty giggled. Rogue smiled. It had been pathetic being on a team with him- they had argued over how to spell the simplest words, proving that Bobby really didn't have any sense of strategy or spelling at all.

"I loved the look on Jean's face when Jamie wiped the floor with her, with his vocabulary," Rogue said as their game continued, for once with Rogue in the lead. "I think I wouldn't have liked to miss that. It'll be in my dreams tonight now."

"Or Scott's continually checking the rulebook every time anyone put anything on the board just to make sure we weren't messing with him-." Kitty looked sly.

"-So that we started using acronyms on purpose and calling him on it when he didn't catch them?" Rogue laughed. It felt good.

They played a lot quicker than the previous games with the other residents, ending with an unsurprising victory for Kitty- but not by many points. Rogue pretended to be more disappointed than she was, surprising herself with how good of a mood she was in considering how badly her day had gone as a whole. They put the game away and started getting ready for bed.

Kitty jumped onto her bed and began arranging the sheets how she preferred them. "By the way- on Thursday the guys are playing Xbox and invited us girls to join in for once. Want to come?"

"Sure," Rogue said before she thought about it, and left the room to brush her teeth. That's another thing roommates are good for, she decided, making your friends for you.


	6. Captive Audience for Love Stories

10 Reasons to Room With Your Best Friend

Reason #6- Captive Audience For Romantic Anecdotes

Yes, this is several weeks late. On my priority list of life, fanfiction ranks very low. Plus I've periodically been ill, and school is occurring again. In short, I have more interesting things to do. However I did not forget this, the story is still on. So with that in mind (and knowing that all the chars and locations belong to DISNEY NOW), here's the sixth reason.

"Oh-em-gee, Rogue! I have the craziest thing to tell you!" Kitty hurled herself through the wall into the bedroom she and Rogue shared.

"Did you really just say 'Oh-em-gee'?" Rogue looked over at her from the window seat. She had been reading a classic horror novel and was already a little bothered with how strange it was without Kitty using cyber chat in everyday life.

"I…oh, wow, I did. Ew, sorry. Anyway, I've got the best news ever!" Kitty was almost vibrating in place with excitement. Rogue considered this for a moment.

"I don't care," she decided, and turned back to her book. Kitty wasn't deterred, this was coming out whether Rogue wanted it to or not.

"Lance and I are back together!" She almost yelled, and did a little twirl in the middle of the room.

Rogue did not look up from her disturbing book. "Again?"

Kitty slowed in her joyful twirling. "What do you mean 'again'?"

The book was finally shut and laid aside, and Rogue prepared to have a Talk with Kitty. The kind that requires a capital 'T'. "You guys have been dating and breaking up constantly for over a year. I don't think anyone cares anymore."

"…What?" Kitty stopped twirling completely. Rogue shifted so she was sitting facing Kitty.

"The spicy intrigue is gone. You guys were interesting at first, especially when he came over here for a few days that one time and the New Mutants got him to leave, but after that the whole 'dating-the-enemy' thing got sort of…well, passé." Rogue paused. "Especially since you're always telling me about the things you guys say on the phone, which I already know because you talk on the phone here while I'm trying to read or sleep or something. I hear the same 'cute' stories two or three times."

Kitty sat down on the window sill next to Rogue, tossing her book on a bed. "But…Lance totally apologized for standing me up, apparently he was in jail," she tried to make Rogue understand her point, not entirely sure what her point was. Rogue nodded impatiently.

"Yes, yes, I know. I was sitting right here when you were on the phone about that an hour ago. But the thing is, you're just going to break up again. One of you will do something that offends the other again pretty soon, and I'll have to hear about it whether I want to or not. So since you'll force-feed me your love life when that happens, I see no reason to go out of my way to listen if it's optional."

"Huh," Kitty managed, looking perplexed and a little downcast. "I suppose I didn't notice. You're kind of easy to ignore when you're quiet. Which is most of the time. What if…what if I were somewhere else when I talk to Lance? Like in the…" Kitty tried to rapidly think of a quiet private place on the mansion grounds "Like in the pantry, or the attic in the garage, or that little meadow out in the forest a little ways, that one where we trained a few weeks ago and Jubilee fell in the stream?"

Rogue smiled a little at that memory. That had been very funny, watching Jubilee flail around until she realized the water was only about two feet deep. "That may help," she conceded, "I can't say that I would still be very interested in Lance-and-Kitty action, but it wouldn't be as annoying as quickly. That would be on the verge of bearable."

Kitty nodded as though sealing a deal. Good. Rogue reached over to pick up her horror novel as Kitty walked over to check her phone absently, in case Lance called. The story was just starting to make sense again when Kitty's phone rang. Rogue sighed and waited for her roommate to leave to talk to Lance (because that's who it always was), and couldn't help but grin a little ruefully when Kitty forgot completely about their deal and flopped down on her bed.

"Oh, hey Lance! Yeah, it's been so long already…." Kitty chatted away enthusiastically.

Rogue rolled her eyes and reached under her bed where she kept a pair of noise-cancelling headphones for special occasions, and put them on. One thing roommates were good for is forcing you to be part of their love-lives whether you want to or not.


	7. Agree to Disagree

10 Reasons To Room With Your Best Friend

Reason 7: Agree to Disagree

* * *

"There is an opportunity now, with the recent expansion of the mansion, for some of you to obtain your own individual bedrooms instead of sharing," Professor Xavier addressed the at dinner one evening, "There have been ample complaints in the past about your rooming situations that we have until now been forced to be set aside. However several new rooms have finished being remodeled recently, and Ororo, Hank, and I will be listening to any petitions for room changes through this week. We ask that you be courteous and respectful towards one another if the decision is made to separate you, and that you keep in mind that whatever decisions we make are not permanent."

The residents of the mansion began talking among themselves excitedly, with more than one thoughtful glance at unsuspecting, completely friendly roommates who didn't notice the potential mutiny upon them. Kitty and Rogue both began celebrating, Rogue internally and Kitty out loud in the form of a small dance. Their chance had come!

As soon as the meal was over they stopped the Professor, Hank, and Ororo at the door.

"We want to get our own rooms!" they said as one, then looked at each other awkwardly.

"Go ahead," Kitty motioned politely. Rogue thanked her equally politely.

"We're completely different people, and can't stand each other," Rogue began, "Kitty listens to that horrible Jonas-Brothers-wannabe music-"

"-And Rogue's Satan music drives me crazy," Kitty interrupted. "And she organizes her socks-"

"And Kitty leaves her stuff laying everywhere. It gets into my parts of the room-"

"When she eats her cookies in the room she leaves the crumbs on the floor, and they just lay there, sometimes for over a week!" Kitty shuddered.

"And you try to make me be social and hear every single one of your Lance stories when I've clearly told you multiple times that I'm not interested." Rogue turned to face Kitty, who also turned to face her roommate head-on.

"You stay up really late not even doing anything, just sitting around thinking and thinking, and I can't sleep because of it!" Kitty jabbed Rogue in the arm with a finger.

"You're always inviting people in for little uplifting go-get-'em talks and hugging and touching and throwing your physical signs of appreciation around!" Rogue's voice began getting louder, and Kitty was beginning to snarl a little.

"And you throw things at me to get my attention," Kitty said, "Who does that?"

"And-" both girls glanced at the adults after Hank cleared his throat to get their attention. They stepped away from each other and calmed down.

"And this-" they both said simultaneously. Rogue gestured to Kitty to proceed politely. Kitty acquiesced equally politely.

"Thank you, Rogue. This is why we would like separate rooms."

The adults looked at each other slowly. Professor Xavier was laughing very hard on the inside, however to others he appeared to be just as stern and calm as ever.

"Your complaint has been noted. Please allow us to discuss this matter this evening and tomorrow we will let you know what we've decided," he said, then nodded goodbye and went towards the library for contemplative reading of classic literature for an hour or two.

That night the room Rogue and Kitty shared was humming with anticipation. The possibility of it being their last night confined together made it difficult for both of them to sleep. To pass time, Rogue swept the cookie crumbs off the floor and Kitty tidied her clothes. They traded a few questions about a few possessions that they were unsure of who the owner was, then finally fell asleep.

The next morning after breakfast, Professor Xavier told them that the adults had decided that a trial period of separation was in order, and that one of the new rooms was allocated to whichever of them wanted it. The other would remain in the old room they were currently in. The girls, along with Hank, went to see the new room to decide which one would claim it.

Upon walking in, they noticed that it was very large and very well lit. A grand window filled a good portion of one wall, facing south, so that for most of the day there would be no need for a light switch or lamp. Both girls were awed and initially fought about it until Hank pointed out that this room and the one they were currently in were about the same size, the difference in appearance being that their current room was full of two peoples' belongings and furniture instead of only one.

They swiftly came to the conclusion that since Kitty was more into bright, cheerful things she should get the new room, and since Rogue haunted the window seat in their current room she would stay in there. Their belongings were swiftly moved around and rearranged, and most of the evening was spent reorganizing furniture and possessions cheerfully.

The following few days were unusually busy, with school and being X-Men, but the next weekend they met up in Rogue's room under the pretense that Kitty's winter boots were still in there (they were not, they were to the right of the desk by the door, lined up neatly between the beat up ballet slippers and the boots she wore with her X-Men uniform).

"So how is having your own room?" Kitty asked, looking around the room she'd been a part of for over a year. It bothered her a little to see no trace of her left in it. She had been erased. Rogue was standing in the middle awkwardly, unused to the space but with a vague urge to fill it with something.

"It's good, yeah. I really enjoy being able to keep my own hours." She said. "And yourself?"

"Same, definitely. That big window opens, and so I leave it like that when I'm working on homework for a nice breeze. It's very pleasant. I like how you've rearranged things."

"Really? Thank you. I don't like it, actually, I can't get the furniture to fit right."

"There's too much space, right? I'm having that same problem." Kitty grasped onto the idea, still feeling a little like a stranger.

"Really? But you have more stuff than me."

"I know, right? It all fits really well but it doesn't look right. It's almost too cheerful!"

"Yeah," Rogue agreed, seeing where this was going, "And this room looks like a tomb with only my stuff laying around."

"Small children would be afraid to enter it," Kitty agreed.

They stood silently for a minute, waiting for each other to say it. It would only be a few words, one sentence, and each already knew what the other would say back- and then the moment passed. Bobby ice skated down the hall and crashed into Sam, who went flying backwards and took out a wall in a room nearby. The girls were obliged to go make sure anyone in the room was okay and yell at Bobby for being dumb and Sam for being himself.

That night, Rogue couldn't help but feel unusually alone, and kept tossing and turning. Kitty, down the new hall in a new room that she was beginning to worry she'd never get used to, stared blankly at the ceiling in the dark. Rogue finally sat up and groaned, slapping around her nightstand for the lamp switch. She padded down the halls barefoot in the darkness and knocked on Kitty's door. After a few minutes Kitty answered, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey," Rogue said awkwardly. Somewhere downstairs in the larger rooms, a clock tolled one in the morning. "Are you busy?"

Kitty blinked at her for a moment. "Really? Now?"

"Yeah," Rogue said, avoiding looking at her ex-roommate. "I haven't slept well all week because I haven't fallen asleep wishing you'd shut up."

"Really? Because I haven't slept well without your random inexplicable nightmares suddenly waking me up at lousy hours."

They stared at each other.

Rogue rubbed her gloveless hands together. "So your room looks really big. You said the window opens?"

"Oh, yeah. It's got a little mini-balcony that you can't walk onto, but it looks nice."

"I almost fall out of the window a lot in our- my- room," Rogue commented offhand, walking into the room to take a better look.

"Yes, it's kind of funny. However there's that little rail there, so it would be harder for that to happen in here."

"So," Rogue began, looking around at the spacious room. "Are you looking for a roommate?"

Kitty grinned, "I suppose you could cram in here if you wanted. Want to get your mattress?"

They spent a few hours in the middle of the night moving the mattress and sheets off Rogue's bed down the halls as quietly as possible, and fell asleep randomly in the early morning. Later that morning when the sun and mansion residents were rising for the day, Professor Xavier came by to investigate what he'd sensed during the night and found Kitty asleep hanging on the edge of her bed, and Rogue curled up on her disheveled mattress and sheets in the middle of the room. He smiled knowingly to himself and left.

Later on that week, their old room was given to one of the New Mutants, but they didn't really notice. Their new room was preferable due to the increased lighting and the whole new hall bathroom that none of the other teens had discovered yet. Rogue lay on her bed one night not much later pensively looking out the window at the stars, and noted that rooming with your best friend means they're hard to get rid of.


	8. Matchmaking and Soothsaying

I still don't own X-Men: Evolution, Marvel, or any of these characters. I do own the laptop I wrote this on though. There was a request earlier in the chapters for more Gambit action (!) and after some thought I agreed: Rogue needs more Gambit. However this storyline is about Rogue and Kitty's relationship with each other as roommates, so it took awhile to figure out how to work him in without losing the story. Here you go.

Reason #8- Matchmaking and Soothsayer

* * *

Rogue jolted out of her daydream as she heard knocking at her new bedroom door. It couldn't be Kitty; she was still in her Danger Room session and wouldn't have knocked anyway. Rogue quickly ran through a list of whom it could have been and ended up no more enlightened than she'd been before. She got up and opened the door.

"Please don't scream," Remy LeBeau said casually, standing with his hands in his pockets.

"I- what? Um, hello," Rogue said, thoroughly confused and slightly alarmed. Good things never occurred when she and Gambit were alone together. Not that anything could happen between them, not with her mutation. The things that usually occurred were shouted arguments and the breaking of fragile possessions.

"How's Rogue today," Gambit said, glancing down the hall slightly almost too quickly for Rogue to see, but she did.

"Rogue is fine," Rogue said slowly, "How is Gambit?"

"Well-," Remy almost acted like himself, and then upon another quick glance to and away from something unseen returned to acting odd. "Remy's doing well. Yeah."

They stood silently for a moment, Remy looking like he'd rather not be acting civil and Rogue thinking very hard, trying to figure out what was going on. She had an idea.

"Can you move? I need to see something in the hall," Rogue said, trying to move past Remy without any physical contact whatsoever. He obstinately lurked in the doorway.

"Non, mon chere. Maybe later," Remy said, blocking her way by simply stepping in front of Rogue. Her natural reaction was to back away from anyone within a foot of her and he knew that, darn him.

"Kitty?" Rogue asked loudly, trying to shuffle herself to see past Remy into the hall while he tried to block her.

There was a gasp and the sound of a foot stomp on the hardwood floor. "How did you know it was me?"

"You seem to have this power of nosing into my life in the most socially acceptable ways. It's completely logical for me to assume you're involved," Rogue said irritably. Remy glanced around the room speculatively and didn't pay attention for a moment.

"I figured maybe if you two worked things out you'd stop being on my case about Lance all the time," Kitty said. "So work things out."

"I- oh, fine. Get in here," Rogue told Remy crossly, stepping aside with her arms folded and a frown. He stepped in casually, turning in a lazy circle to take the whole room in.

"Interesting décor, it's like Barbie decided to become a necromancer," he said, nodding in approval. Kitty appeared in the doorway still in her training uniform from her Danger Room session.

"Look, just talk to him, please!" she whispered at Rogue. "He totally apologized for being a creeper a few weeks ago!"

"No, Kitty," Rogue whispered back, not letting Remy out of her sight, "When I vow something I stick to it, unlike you. I said I didn't want anything to do with him and I mean it!"

"It's because he's totally hot, isn't it," Kitty said smugly, backing out of reach right as Rogue tried to hit her.

"I don't want to!" Rogue whispered back. She couldn't stop staring at Remy, and not just because she thought he'd steal something. And Kitty's knowing expression was not helping at all.

"If you don't talk to him I will talk about Lance every hour every day until you do," Kitty whispered earnestly, "and whenever I talk to him I will do it on speakerphone so you have to hear everything. Or you can talk to Gambit."

Rogue debated for a moment. Kitty drove a hard bargain. She studied Remy for a moment. He was busy being fascinated by some of the photos taped to Rogue's mirror.

"And why is he being so suspiciously friendly?" she whispered to Kitty. Kitty frowned slightly

"It was weird, I told him if he behaved I'd bake some cookies, and then he said he'd do it as long as I didn't," she admitted. "So I guess I'm not going to."

"Remy can hear everything you're saying," Remy said thoughtfully as he studied the view out the window. Rogue sighed. She started to say something, then paused and turned to Kitty.

"What's something I should say?" she asked quietly. Kitty grinned enthusiastically.

"Say something about how nice he looks, or the weather or a movie you think he might like!" she suggested. Rogue grimaced. Small talk.

"So you're not as much of a creeper during daylight," she ended up saying. He turned around with a slightly surprised look on his face that turned into a suave but moderately embarrassed grin.

"Yeah? It was suggested that maybe Remy sticks to visiting hours from then on," he said, then hesitated in the same way Rogue had. He thought hard, then ambled over to Kitty as Rogue went to figure out what was so fascinating outside the window. He'd stared out there long enough. When Remy got to Kitty he leaned down near her.

"You seem to be running this, tell me something to say before I piss her off," he said softly, watching Rogue carefully. Any other woman he would have swept off their feet by now, but Rogue was different and it left him with no idea how to proceed.

"Oh! Um," Kitty hadn't been expecting neither of them to know how to behave in a calm polite manner, "Maybe ask about something you see around the room. Those CDs over there are hers, or one of the photos you were looking at?"

"Right," Remy agreed, and quickly glanced around the room. "Are all those CDs yours?"

"Yeah," Rogue said, relieved they had found a topic. "They're nearly all rock. It's my genre of choice." She saw Kitty making grand gestures to try to communicate. "What kind of music do you like?" she guessed. That's what it looked like Kitty was trying to get her to say, at least.

"Remy's got lots of genres of choice," he said, looking through the stack. In the mirror he saw Kitty behind him mouthing something at him. "Which one's your favorite? CD, not genre. You already said that."

"This one," Rogue came over and pulled one out of the stack, showing it to him. He looked at it just long enough to appear interested, then put it back. They stood for a moment pretending to ponder Rogue's CD collection while in the background Kitty jumped around trying to get someone's attention.

"How sad is it that we need Kitty to coach us to have an actual conversation," Rogue finally said. Remy sighed and appeared to actually relax for the first time since entering the room.

"I know. We can't figure this out on our own," he agreed in relief, turning to look directly at her.

"We're old enough to know how to do this right and just can't seem to," Rogue shook her head and smiled. Remy smiled back. In the background Kitty paused on tiptoe, monitoring this new development.

"Maybe we need something else to talk about," Remy said, leaning against the bookshelf. "Kitty? A few words?"

"You set me up for this," Kitty glared at Remy.

"Anything to keep you out of the kitchen," he shrugged. "The conversation Remy's trying to have with the Rogue is falling apart, please give us some ideas of what normal people discuss."

"A book," Kitty said grumpily, sitting down on her bed and crossing her arms.

"What book?" Rogue asked.

"Any book. I don't care," Kitty said, pouting at the floor.

Rogue turned to Remy. "Do you even know how to read?" she asked him skeptically.

"I'm too beautiful to need to think," he said. "Reading falls under the category of thinking. I'll be the pretty one and you can do all the reading."

"Somehow I'm kind of relieved. It would be too much if you were good looking and philosophical."

Remy saw an opportunity, and took it. "You pull it off."

"How cheesy of you to say that." She glanced at Kitty, who had started eavesdropping shamelessly. "You're wrong, but that was sweet anyway."

"Cheese isn't sweet," Remy said. Kitty groaned from across the room and flopped backwards on the bed.

"Kitty seems to be having a good time," Rogue observed to Remy. "Care to sit down? I have some Mountain Dew under my bed if you'd like one."

"If you weren't out, then sure," Remy said, grinning like he usually did when he knew something he shouldn't. Rogue squatted and peeked under her bed where the soda should have been.

"Wow, you klepto," she said. "You owe me Mountain Dew."

"If it's any consolation it had gone flat. I fed it to Jamie." Remy admitted, settling back in the chair that in another room in the middle of the night several weeks before he had failed to get anywhere with Rogue on. Victory felt sweet. Rogue sat on the corner of the mattress closet to him where she too had been in the middle of the night several weeks before in another room. She felt like she had more of an edge this time. She hadn't just been sound asleep, for one. Kitty laid on her bed across the room same as before, wishing just as then that she were somewhere else.

"There's a movie coming out this week that I'm planning on stalking you at," Remy said, still grinning to himself.

"That psycho thriller where that guy comes back to life and starts killing everyone? Yeah, I was planning on going. I figured you'd stalk me there. Why tell me about it?" Rogue said as playfully as her serious nature would allow without feeling disgust at herself. Kitty slowly sat up on her bed looking utterly bored.

"Is this what it's like for you when I talk to Lance? Why didn't you tell me?" she cried out.

"If you're planning on going, and Remy's going to be there too following you around, maybe instead of sitting in the back he could sit a little closer?" Remy leaned forward, watching Rogue. She looked away thoughtfully for a moment as though checking his suggestion against an internal list, then smiled slightly and looked back at him.

"Only if you buy the candy," she said. "Not my ticket-."

"No," Remy agreed hastily, "That would be too date-like."

"-But maybe if candy appeared that would be okay. I suppose in order to give me candy you would have to stop creeping around for a moment, so if you happened to sit near me and not go away again I wouldn't mind too much." Rogue decided.

"Would Remy be overstepping his bounds if he tried to hold your hand?" Remy said, taking a small risk despite the possibility that even the suggestion would irritate Rogue. Risks were his thing.

"No, you may not," Rogue said firmly. "Not even if you get really scared during the movie. You'll just have to be a man and keep watching with your hands to yourself."

"Shoot me," Kitty cried out again, forlornly. "I could quite easily choke on this conversation and haunt you forever afterwards."

Remy and Rogue looked thoughtfully at each other, judging how close Kitty was to actually finding a way to asphyxiate on a conversation, and noting that since the conversation was going so well for once that not ruining it by staying in each others' presence was probably the best idea. He got up without having to be threatened by anyone and bowed chivalrously to Rogue and Kitty in turn.

"This has turned out to not be nearly the mistake Remy thought it would be. He hopes you remember our agreement and stay out of the kitchen," he said to Kitty, then turned to Rogue. It looked as though he was going to say something, but abruptly changed his mind, turned, and left.

Rogue sat on the edge of her bed for a moment, replaying the scene in her head. "Kitty?" she finally said, sounding surprisingly happy for once.

"Yes?" Kitty said cheerfully, promise of asphyxiation already forgotten.

"I hate you and your meddling ways. But…" Rogue grimaced a little, knowing that in admitting this she would only be encouraging her roommate's intervention into private affairs, "thank you for setting us up like that. It wouldn't have worked without you."

Kitty giggled quietly and hugged her pillow triumphantly. Rogue rolled her eyes and returned to what she had been trying to do before any of this occurred. Sometimes roommates were good like that. They could be good matchmakers and relationship coaches at the same time when they needed to.


	9. Currency Based on Hairstyles

Hooookay, so the excuse this time is school. 18 credit hours of it, in three languages. I did the math, I have an average of 1 test every 9 school days. Slowly getting to a point where I can do things other than studying again, which is nice because this awesome storyline doesn't deserve to be neglected for so long anymore!

Second to last chapter- #9 of 10!

The reason for this chapter- did anyone see the final episode of X-Men:Evolution, with all of those shots of the 'future XMen'? And how several of them had different hairstyles? That's where the thought for this came from.

This is probably a rough draft chapter, I'm not entirely pleased with it. Please comment/help me.

* * *

Reason #9- Currency Based on Hairstyles

"Can you do something for me?" Kitty asked as she phased down through the ceiling into the room she shared with Rogue.

"No, I will not help you study, paint your nails, let you borrow any shoes, clothes, or accessories for any form of outfit or costume. The use of any of my school supplies or CDs for any purpose without my spoken permission is also prohibited." Rogue said flatly, without looking up from a webpage on Kitty's laptop.

"Yeah, but we agreed that was mutual and you're on my computer right now, so all bets are off." Kitty said, rummaging through her dresser for something.

"I'm doing research for a paper," Rogue lied.

"On the Fail Blog?"

"…Yes. It's a paper about things that are stupid," Rogue lied again.

"For English class?"

"Sure, why not."

"The English class we take together?" Kitty pointed out, pulling some of her predictably cute clothes out of a drawer.

"Have you been absent lately? Maybe it was assigned that day,"

"You know I haven't," Kitty said, changing into the outfit she had laid out and brushing her hair, looking slightly wistfully into the mirror at it. "Get out of your pajamas, we're going to go somewhere."

"I'm playing- researching- online, I don't plan on doing anything today. Go away." Rogue shook her head slightly, typing something. Kitty bravely faced Rogue's closet and pulled out something that more or less resembled what Rogue would wear, and threw the small pile at her.

"Dress, we're going somewhere to do something," Kitty commanded unusually forcefully. Rogue looked away from the screen at her for the first time since the conversation began.

"Are you okay?"

Kitty looked in the mirror one last time, then at the hairbrush, and then tossed that at Rogue too. Rogue stared at Kitty slightly longer, then logged off the laptop and, sighing, began putting on the stuff Kitty threw at her.

"Who was it and what did they say?" Rogue asked dutifully while getting dressed and applying her makeup.

"Scott got all upset at the Danger Room session because of my hair. He said it kept getting in the way and blocking my vision, and then Kurt started teasing me-"

"He does that sometimes," Rogue agreed, thinking of Kurt's playful nature.

"-And I got so mad at them I've decided to cut it off!" Kitty finished, tying her shoes and turning to face Rogue, who was sliding her own boots on. She frowned and paused.

"That's a pretty big leap in logic," Rogue decided.

"Not at all. I've been thinking about it for awhile already, and the Prof totally spotted me some cash. I even know what style I want." Kitty said.

"So why am I going?" Rogue asked. Kitty smiled.

"Maybe you'll want to do something too?" she said coyly. "I know you've been flipping through Jean's magazines lately."

"That was…also for research on things that are stupid!"

"The Prof gave me money for if you want to try something new too. Your hair's always in your face, you know how it bugs Scott. Plus I feel like I should mention- there's a bet going that we wouldn't both do it."

"How much?" Rogue looked interested. She wouldn't cut her hair even if it was free, but if she'd actually gain money out of it, and be able to get that CD she'd been wanting, then it became a possibility she would entertain.

"I'd make about $50 total, and I'll totally split it with you if you get your hair cut too. But it has to be both of us. The bet on just me cutting my hair's only $10."

"Look, I'll go, but I'm not cutting my hair unless something really convinces me to." Rogue said as they walked down the hall.

Remy, whose unabated fascination with Rogue, and irritating Rogue (usually at the same time), was walking by in the opposite direction. As he passed, he said something in French creole and flipped some of Rogue's hair. She frowned and as soon as they were out of earshot she turned to Kitty.

"Let's do this."

Kitty laughed.

As they drove to the mall (Rogue driving, because she wanted to live, while Kitty pouted in the passenger seat), Rogue pondered spontaneously getting her hair cut, and currency based on hairstyles. Roommates were a good way to get quick cash.


End file.
